Alumni Articles

OLE MIKKELSEN (Postdoc, Ocean Sciences, 2007)

“If you have purchased a LISST in the last six months,

there is a very high chance that it was manufactured in a 2nd bedroom or the corner of a living room!”

“I completed a three-year postdoc on the MATSIS project with Colin Jago, Sarah Jones and Gay Mitchelson-Jacob in 2007. I then relocated to Washington (WA) state, USA where I had been offered a job with Sequoia

Scientific, Inc. in Bellevue, just outside of Seattle. Sequoia manufactures

the LISST series of laser particle size analysers, holographic cameras, and

acoustic backscatter sensors, all for measuring suspended particle size,

shape, and concentration, and water optical properties. I worked for Sequoia for six years, working my way up to become VP of Sales & Marketing. In late 2013 I left Sequoia to return to my native Denmark and work as a system sales manager for another underwater technology company, MacArtney Underwater Technology Group, in the Danish HQ.

Late 2018 I was headhunted back to Sequoia because the co-founder and President, Dr.

Yogi Agrawal, was retiring. Since 1/1/2019 I have been back in WA as the President & CEO of Sequoia. Our customers are located all over the world and our instruments are used in applications as diverse as basic aquatic science studies (e.g. sediment transport, flocculation,

marine optics, plankton studies) over environmental monitoring (harmful algal blooms, oil spill remediation) to a range of industrial applications such as ceramics, oil & gas drilling, stormwater monitoring, aquaculture food pellet design, enzyme production, hydropower, and much more.

As the President I am not involved in any research projects, but we have team members who are very active in obtaining funding for prototype development of new instrument designs. We are currently working on two externally funded research projects. One is for developing an instrumentation system that can monitor the environmental impact of deep-sea mining at a water depth of 6,000 m in real-time. So, a very practical application. The other is for developing an absorption sensor that can measure hyperspectral water absorption in-situ. This type of measurement is needed to improve our understanding of ocean biogeochemical cycling and to provide ground truth optical property data for future airborne and satellite ocean color missions, such as the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud and ocean Ecosystem (PACE) Earth-observing satellite mission. So, an application much more catered towards the science market. We are also often working to optimize and improve our existing instrumentation offering. In the last

year we have thus developed sensors specifically for oil spill research and remediation efforts

(almost 10% of all scientific papers with LISST results are oil-spill based), and for harmful algal

bloom monitoring and studies. We have also invented and introduced a method (patent pending) to combine acoustic and optical sensors in a manner that improves the accuracy of sediment concentration measurements with almost an order of magnitude compared to traditional sensors such as turbidity sensors and optical backscatter sensors.

“Here are pictures of two bridges. The first are the

Lacey V. Murrow (right) and Homer M. Hadley (left) memorial bridges, which carries Interstate I-90 across

Lake Washington from Seattle towards Bellevue (the skyscrapers in the distance). In normal times I would drive across twice a day to get to and from work.“ “The other is the Salmon Bay Bridge, also known less poetically as Bridge No. 4, a bascule railroad bridge that I can also see from my rooftop. The bridge spans the Lake Washington Ship Canal and connects the railroad lines north of Seattle with the railroad lines south of Seattle. A very wide mix of freight and passenger trains pass over the bridge every day.” When COVID-19 hit WA state hard in March, we were completely shut down for two weeks and didn’t really move at all. We then started to let a couple of technicians come into the office and

moved half the workshop home to the other technicians, so they could assemble instruments at home. If you have purchased a LISST in the last six months, there is a very high chance that it

was manufactured in a 2nd bedroom or the corner of a living room with some of our technicians! The rest of us who work in admin, science, engineering, marketing, finance, HR and sales can

work from home and we have been doing so since it all started. I do not anticipate us coming back to the office again in a ‘normal’ manner until perhaps sometime in Q1 2021, but more

likely not until Q2, 2021. Fortunately we have good software systems that make it easy for us to collaborate internally, even if we are almost all working remotely all the time. We get together every Thursday at noon for a virtual lunch via Teams, and the managers update everybody else on what is going on. We also play trivia with a $50 prize for the winner, and two rounds of on-line

bingo, with a $25 prize for each winner. Our VP Science & Technology, Dr. Wayne Slade, has

taken home more than $600 in quiz and bingo winnings so far! “

JONATHAN SAYER (Marine Biology / Oceanography, 2015)

Four Dive into a New Venture

Photo legend: (L to R) Hugh, Jonathan, Jane and Martin photographed in the emergency recompression unit Four SOS alumni are involved with the establishment and operation of a new company specialising in underwater research and development. Tritonia Scientific Ltd. (tritoniascientific.

co.uk), based near Oban on the west coast of Scotland, was incorporated in 2018 and is coowned and managed by Martin and Jane Sayer. Martin was a PhD student in the Animal Biology Group at Menai Bridge (1984-7) while Jane (née Beard) was a member of the inaugural MSc Marine Biology course (1985-6) before working with Peter Spencer on the Liverpool Bay water

quality programme (1986-7).

Martin and Jane set up the new company following the closure of the NERC National Facility for Scientific Diving (NFSD). Although primarily diving-based, Tritonia Scientific has expanded

rapidly into areas of marine technology and marine-related aerial technology. A lot of the work involves surveying and monitoring underwater environments and marine structures, and most is based on the application of novel adaptations of emerging stereophotogrammety techniques and technologies. In the past two years, the team have undertaken commercial contracts that have involved quantifying biofouling on oil and gas platforms; structural surveys of harbours, piers and breakwaters; habitat mapping; and marine debris assessments.

The company continues to provide diving support for academic partners and is currently collaborating on projects with researchers at the Marine Biological Association, University College London, British Antarctic Survey, Cefas, Natural History Museum, the Scottish

Association for Marine Science, Scottish Natural Heritage and the Universities of Aberdeen, East Anglia, Stirling, Bristol and Newcastle. It also owns and manages the Oban hyperbaric recompression facility which is the only unit operating on the west coast of Scotland that provides NHS-funded emergency medical treatment for divers suffering from decompression

illness.

Hugh Brown, who graduated from the SOS with a BSc in Marine Biology and Oceanography in 1996, transferred across from the NFSD with Martin in 2018. Hugh had previously worked for the University Marine Biological Station, Millport and the British Antarctic Survey before starting work for the NFSD in 2002. Hugh is the senior boat skipper at Tritonia and is a qualified diving

supervisor. He is also one of the company’s ROV pilots in addition to being a CAA-accredited commercial unmanned aircraft system (aerial drone) pilot.

In 2019, Jonathan Sayer joined the company as project manager. Jonathan also graduated from the Marine Biology and Oceanography BSc course (2015) before working in the Scottish aquaculture industry as an environmental scientist for over three years. As well as being one of the commercially qualified divers and boat skippers, Jonathan is responsible for Tritonia’s

quality management system and leads the current application for ISO9001 accreditation.

The group has maintained links with SOS over the years. The NFSD provided accurate and non-destructive diving-based sampling of shell material for the sclerochronology group lead by Chris Richardson and James Scourse and were also involved with supporting diving operations in the Chagos Archipelago that involved John Turner. The latter association continued with Tritonia Scientific and the two groups are involved in current proposals that should hopefully

result in further collaboration for the next four years.

Tritonia Scientific undertook an aerial photogrammetry demonstration project on the iconic

‘Bridge Over the Atlantic’ on the Isle of Seil, just south of Oban. The structure is a category A listed bridge, considered a key tourism asset. Its unusually steep arch and narrow, single roadway posed difficulty in carrying out routine structural surveys. Tritonia Scientific modelled

the bridge using aerial drone photography.

A video and interactive model of the survey can be found at:

https://tritoniascientific.co.uk/photogrammetry-projects/clachan-bridge

KEVIN DEEMING (Physical Oceanography MSc, 1969)

The Bridges of France to see before you die.

“Bonjour from the northern Dordogne in France, where the food, wine, and climate are very pleasant. It is the walnut season and many kilos are being collected for friends back home in the UK.

I am one of the 1969 cohort of MSc physical Oceanographers – we few, we happy few, we band of brothers. I am not sure how many of us are still shuffling along this mortal coil. They

were good days at Menai Bridge: the heady days of Crisp, Darbyshire, Taylor-Smith, Simpson, Buchan, Grove, Jones, Rees et.al. OK, I may be looking at things through rose-tinted glasses but I claim the privilege of old-age. In many ways, marine science was in its infancy. It never ceases to amaze me that the idea of plate tectonics was still then a hypothesis. However, the

emergence of the offshore oil and gas industry was acting as a major catalyst for new thinking

and technologies. In those days, ‘The Labs’ was the leading university marine research station

in the UK.

My career was in commercial oceanography. I played a part in helping to develop several companies – the last one being Metoc plc. What am I most proud of? The way that we integrated all the marine disciplines to scope, investigate, obtain environmental and engineering permits, and then project manage the installation of many of the major electric power cables on the European continental shelf and elsewhere in the world. Getting the power to market for the green revolution was always crucial, and still is.

I have now been retired for nearly 10 years and spend half my time in leafy Surrey and, if I can, the other half in France. Which brings me to what I am really writing about: the bridges of France, which you should see before you die.

Rivers and straits have always been problematic for humankind. For centuries communication across them was by ferry or by fording them during dry periods. However, the construction of good wooden bridges, which could provide crossings in bad weather or flood, enabled commerce to flourish.

Prosperity increased and city and town development followed. Over the years, the early wooden bridges gave way to the more durable stone and brick. Here in France there are some remarkable bridges remaining, which bear testimony to the brilliance of its engineers – all the way back to the Romans.

Actually, this is not exactly a bridge but looks like one. It was built to carry water along the 50 kms Nimes aqueduct. It is France’s third most visited attraction (after the Eiffel Tower and Mont St Michel). The

Romans built this immense structure with local limestone. With three levels of arches it spans the River Gardon. It descends by 2.5 cm from end-to-end, providing a small incline for a gentle flow of water. It has

stood for nearly 2000 years and is now a UNESCO heritage site.

2 Pont d’Avignon (1185 AD)

One of the most photographed bridges in France, it attracts 300,000 visitors a year. Yet, the paradox is that they cannot cross over it! It was built under the direction of St Bénézet, a shepherd, after he felt

commanded by a vision from God to place a bridge across the River Rhone at Avignon. The locals were dismissive but, after many miracles – including the deaf and the blind being cured – they were convinced of his divine commission and helped him. Unfortunately, the bridge was abandoned in the 17th century as the arches tended to collapse each time the Rhone flooded. Only four arches – out of

the original 22 arches -- and the gatehouse remain in place. The bridge was made famous in the 15th century by the song, ‘Sur le Pont d’Avignon’.

3 Pont Valantré (1380 AD)

A splendid medieval fortified bridge, which

crosses the River Lot at Cahors. Legend

has it that construction took so long, the foreman signed a pact with the devil to help him finish it. Later, to save his soul,

he tricked the devil out of the bargain. The furious devil sent one of his imps every night to loosen the last stone on the central tower so that the masons had to put it back every day. In the 19th century, when the bridge was being restored, a sculpture of an imp was placed on the central tower. Now the devil mistakenly thinks his work continues every day, when he checks the tower! Designed to be its own fortress, the three defensive towers never saw combat.

Contrary to what its name, ‘New Bridge’, suggests, this is the oldest standing bridge across the River Seine in Paris. It stands at the downstream point of the Île de la Cité, the island in the middle of the river that was, circa 250 BC, the birthplace of Paris (Lutetia). The bridge links the island

to the Right Bank (7 arches) and the Left

Bank (5 arches). Before its construction Parisian bridges were mainly made of wood and covered with houses. Most of them collapsed. It was real change to have a bridge built in stone and without houses. Several French expressions have developed from the name: ‘a Pont-Neuf’ is a person who speaks with ‘a popular

air’; because it has been there so long ‘to wear like a Pont-Neuf’ means to be ‘indestructible and healthy’; and as the first

fries in Paris were sold on the bridge, ‘Pont

Neuf apples’ are a category of fries – those of 1cm square.

5 Viaduc de Garabit (1884 AD)

This was designed by Gustave Eiffel,

the French civil engineer, famed for the Eiffel Tower. It is a railway arch bridge

spanning the River Truyère in the Massif Central. Impressively, the actual deflection

(load displacement) was measured at 8 mm – just as had been calculated by Eiffel. At 124 metres above the river, it

was the highest bridge in the world at the time. Until 2009, two regular passenger trains crossed the viaduct: a Corail route from Clermont-Ferrand to Béziers. It was

closed after cracks were discovered in a foundation. However, after safety checks, it re-opened and carries traffic with a

speed limit of 10 km/hour.

6 Viaduc de Rochers Noir (1913 AD)

Much like our very own Menai Bridge, by the early 19th century the most cost-effective solution

for road traffic and the burgeoning railway system at difficult locations was the suspension

bridge. France became a world leader. But everything changed in 1850 when the Basse-Chaine suspension bridge in Angers collapsed into the River Maine, killing 226 of the 478 troops who were marching across it at the time. Corrosion was the problem. It put back the use of this technology in France for many years. However, new designs, developed in the 20th century have culminated in several successful suspension bridges. An example is the Black Rocks Viaduct spanning Luzège

7 Viaduc de Millau (2004 AD)

Which brings us to one of the newest and iconic suspension bridges in recent years. The Millau Viaduct spans the valley of the River Tarn. Before it was built, it could take motorists up to four hours to cross the valley in heavy traffic. Now it

only takes five minutes. It carries over 5

million vehicles a year. British architect, Sir Norman Foster, and French engineer, Dr Michel Virlogeux, combined to design and construct the tallest bridge in the world. It is ranked as one of the great engineering achievements of modern times.

Another bridge perhaps?

Metaphorically speaking, the next big challenge is to rebuild the bridge across the Channel between the UK and France – and hence Europe. At present it is in suspension!!

‘Bon chance’ or ‘Fat chance’? Only time will tell.

Meanwhile, stay well and keep dodging the ubiquitous coronavirus.”